This invention relates generally to carriers for hand tools and other small items and more particularly to carriers with multiple storage trays including means to quickly and easily pop up the top tray to a height that provides easy access, e.g., is comfortable for a standing person to access.
Tool carriers, portable storage boxes, tackle boxes, and simple open carriers and totes, made of wood and now common in plastic or metal have been around for a very long time. More recent examples of such boxes are shown in the patent literature. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,612,635 (Uyeda et al.), 5,611,170 (McGuff et al.), and 6,267,484 (Baker et al.), which disclose tackle or tool boxes having plural trays which are arranged to be moved between a collapse or closed position and an extended or open position and vice versa. While such boxes may be generally suitable for their intended purposes, they nevertheless leave much to be desired from the standpoints of the range of function, compactness and convenience of use. For example, the extendable trays of those boxes are not capable of elevation to heights readily accessible by a standing user (unless the entire box is disposed at an elevated height, e.g., placed on a table or workbench).
The use of collapsible/extendable legs on work tables or carts has also been known for a very long period of time. See for example U.S. Applications 2002/0179181A1 and 2006/0037873A1. However, such tables or carts are somewhat limited in their range of extension and compactness. Thus, they are not readily portable to carry hand tools or other small items.
The subject invention addresses those needs by providing a device including at least one tray which is readily portable for carrying hand tools or other small items, and which can be placed on the ground or on some other low surface, with the at least one tray being arranged to be elevated to a comfortable and convenient working height for a standing user.